Let’s say you are a new band and no one has ever heard of you. You live in a well-sized city which is notorious for its apathy of going to new band shows (as a totally random example… Vancouver). For the sake of having a name, let’s call this imaginary band The Stable Mice. This imaginary band is an indie rock band and actually has a pretty wicked live show and a pretty styling first album.
The Stable Mice are putting on a show at their local bar and their poster reads in giant 89.5 point text “STABLE MICE” and “live!” underneath. They have a really wicked illustration of some mice playing poker in a stable with a friendly Mr. Ed-ish horse in the background and all-in-all it is a totally wicked show poster.
The Stable Mice then proceed to slather their local city with hundreds of posters and work their asses off trying to get the word out about their show. They figure they have put out a pretty solid marketing effort, facebooked, twittered, text-messaged, postered, fliered and done all the things they should. They are feeling pretty good… until show night.
Show night happens and, seemingly unjustified, they have a poor turnout. 50 of their closest friends show up but it still looks pretty empty in a house that holds 250.
Has this happened to you? Well it sure as hell has happened to me, and I watch seasoned event promoters and live music venues do this same thing as well.
What I suspect is going wrong with indie show marketing is a product of oversaturation. Back in the good ole days (in the dark ages before the internet and mobile phones) people actually checked out show posters as a way to find out interesting events or new bands. I used to – I had no other way. Now we are slammed with event invites on facebook, twitter, emails, etc. and frankly one more show poster cluttering up my available brain capacity for adverts isn’t going to mean much to me.
Using that assumption, The Stable Mice made a key mistake. They assumed that the show was about them. That initial assumption led to all their marketing being about The Stable Mice. However, a stranger walking by a show poster for a band called The Stable Mice (a band they have never heard of and know nothing about) didn’t really attract any attention. Even if their poster was super cool and that stranger stopped for a good stare down. If you are the Gorillaz (ps. I am loving Plastic Beach) and throw up a thousand plain posters that say “Gorillaz” in huge letters and “Dec. 17th” and “Buy at Ticketmaster” – well then if I saw that poster – I would stop, text a half a dozen friends and probably start buying tickets. (If you don’t like the Gorillaz then don’t winge at me – just imagine it is an awesome major label band that you love…)
I know nothing about The Stable Mice.
If you are a new band and keep this thought in your head: “it’s not about you” then you will look for or create show opportunities that are mainly about something else. You will find performances where audiences are (what I call) ‘innate’ to the event or venue. Say for example The Stable Mice organized a show where they weren’t the headlining idea – for example the show was partnered with a few corporate sponsers or a fundraiser for a children’s camp. In the case of bars, the band is the last thing on the bill – instead it is an uber -fun Jack and Jill party with awesome door prizes for best costumes and The Stable Mice are billed as a small part of that event. Until you have notoriety that reaches way beyond the underground (or you really are that f-n awesome) you will find that it is hard to draw a crowd out based on your unknown musical product. When you look for shows with ‘innate audiences’ you will find that you will perform in front of loads of people that can then become your fans.
Playing multiple shows for the same 30 friends will not acquire you a fan base, nor create the industry buzz you guys all want.
Think out of the box, festivals, corporate sponsors, fundraisers, fun parties. If you do promote your own show, promote the party instead of the show. It is easier for people to get behind a “Summer in January” where people can dress like it’s 30 degrees outside and drink and behave foolishly. That is way easier than convincing people to come and pay admission to listen to only your music. At the end of the night you will have a boatload of drunk new fans who had the “best time ever” and bought the cd and will tell all their friends about the wicked band they saw. The trick, you see, is that they had a good time, which now and forever they will associate with The Stable Mice.
If your music is not “party down” style and more of the acoustic soulful style… then organize a night with a local confectioner for a “chocolate buffet” and you are the performer. Open your mind, young jedi, and you will see the path. As you get bigger, look for opportunities with larger organizations.
In most cross-promotional opportunities you will find that you have a whole new army of promoters that come from the sponsoring companies. If the motivation is for them to raise money or for their own promotion they will work like crazy to get peeps out to the show. That is working smarter, not harder on your part.
You will not do this forever. Hopefully your music is well-received and you will find new fans with every new show. You will get their email addresses on your mailing list, they will now remember your name so that one day when you do headline a poster – those strangers who see it are already fans.
Watch for Animal Nation‘s upcoming cross-Canada tour – many of the shows on that tour incorporate this type of thinking.
Mouse pic courtesy of: http://pretty-as-a-picture.deviantart.com/
August 20, 2010
30 Sep – The Mercury Lounge w/ Cursed, Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
